AO3 of Paradise Lost by John Milton

Vocabulary flashcards covering historical, literary, and theological contexts of Milton's Paradise Lost.

Background of the poem

Milton's epic written after the English Civil War and the Puritan Commonwealth; reflects republican ideals and concerns about tyranny, liberty, and moral order.

Divine Right of Kings

Belief that monarchs receive authority directly from God; Milton opposes this as incompatible with accountability to the people.

Prelapsarian Adam and Eve

The innocent, unfallen state of humanity used to frame liberty, obedience, and the threat of tyranny.

Restoration (1660)

Monarchy restored under Charles II; Milton wrote Paradise Lost in exile, with urgent moral purpose.

Satan as epic anti-hero

Satan's grandeur and rhetoric mirror classical heroes while exposing pride and rebellion.

Genesis 1–3 as primary source

Milton anchors the Fall in Genesis, expanding its cosmic and moral scope by drawing on other biblical texts.

Other biblical sources (Revelation, Psalms, Isaiah, Apocrypha)

Milton uses additional scriptures to deepen the Fall's significance.

Free will vs predestination

17th-century debate; Milton endorses a middle ground: God foreknows the Fall but does not cause it.

“Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall”

Book 3 line suggesting human freedom exists within divine foreknowledge.

Eve's independence in Book 9

Eve's desire to think for herself and act independently challenges gender hierarchies.

“For inferior who is free?”

Line from Book 9 that sparked feminist reinterpretations of Eve and female autonomy.

Eve viewed under proto-feminist approaches

20th-century readings view Eve's curiosity and transgression as identity formation, not just temptation.

Augustinian original sin

Moral rupture of humanity after the Fall; Milton uses it to frame guilt and fallen nature.

”Earth felt the wound”

From Book 9: Nature is corrupted as a sign of human sin.

Book 9 themes

Temptation and deception; autonomy vs obedience; tragic hubris in Satan and Eve.

Book 10 themes

Aftermath: judgment, guilt, blame; the emergence of Sin and Death on Earth.

“Dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou return”

God's reminder of human mortality and the cost of disobedience (echoes Genesis 3:19).

“Was she thy God, that her thou didst obey”

God's questioning of obedience, highlighting accountability and the proper order of authority.

Sin and Death as archetypes

In revisionist readings, they symbolize repression, guilt, and corruption beyond literal beings.

Milton's Renaissance humanism

Milton's education in Latin, Greek, Hebrew; shows through Adam and Eve's dialogue a culture of philosophical inquiry.

Satan's war in Heaven

Milton's expansion that creates a layered allegory of rebellion and order.

Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven

Satan's boastful line; highlights pride and complicates the epic's moral frame.

Moral order and divine justice

Explores how free will relates to God’s sovereignty and the just structure of creation.

Revisionist Feminist criticisms

Feminist readings critique Eve’s punishment; some view transgression as assertion of identity.

Revisionist Political criticisms

Critiques like Empson discuss tensions between republican ideals and divine authority.

Postmodern/Psychoanalytic readings

Fall as loss of unity; Satan, Sin, Death as archetypes of repression and guilt.